I was saddened to hear of the death of John Barry last week, a man whose music has been gracing films for my entire life, with the likes of Born Free in 1966 to the haunting theme from Midnight Cowboy in 1969 and an Oscar winning score for one of my favourite films Dances With Wolves in 1990, which I watched again recently with Young Ben (or Child Who Has Grandfather Wrapped Around His Little Finger to give him his Sioux name)
However I imagine John Barry will be best remembered for his connection to the James Bond Movies, so as a tribute to Mr Barry I give you my favourite James Bond linked list
Best James Bond..........Sean Connery (so good he even has the same name as Ben's dad)
Best Bond Movie................Goldfinger
Best Bond Song........We Have All The Time In The World by Louis Armstrong from the vastly underrated On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Best Bond Girl.....Ursula Andress in Dr No
Best Bond Villain....Oddjob and his deadly bowler hat from Goldfinger closely followed by Robert Shaw in From Russia With Love (if only he had not made the schoolboy error of ordering red wine with fish)
Best Bond Gadget.....Jetpack in Thunderball
Best Quote......."No Mr Bond I expect you to die" by Auric Goldfinger
Best Fight Scene....Madagascar Chase Scene with Daniel Craig in Casino Royale
Best Bond Car...Aston Martin DB5 (you guessed it...from Goldfinger...but, own up, how many of you over the years have not wished at least once that your car had an ejector seat that could remove a tiresome passenger?)
Worst Bond Movie....Moonraker...just awful
Worst Bond Villain...Grace Jones as Mayday in A View To A Kill
Worst Bond Song....The Man With The Golden Gun by Lulu
It is fitting that I write about James Bond this week as my good friend Kevin from Dundee celebrates his 50th birthday on Friday and is himself a bit of a James Bond aficionado and has on more than one occasion turned down the opportunity to play 007 due to work commitments and the fact that he would need to have a haircut
I leave you this week with my Top Ten Items not to buy Kevin for his 50th (this will mean nothing to anyone who does not know Kevin, but he has always been a good friend and he does read my Blog every week and you are only 50 once unless You Only Live Twice....see what I did there?)
1. Official Match Programme of the 1980 Scottish League Cup Final
2. Concert tickets to Ricky Ross Deacon Blue reunion concert
3. Free table for life at annual Burns Supper in Glasgow
4. Giovanni Di Stefano Autobiography
5. Arab costume for Halloween
6. Weegies v Edinbuggers book (to show how we Central Belters are the best)
7. ELO Greatest Hits CD featuring extended version of Mr Blue Sky
8. The SFL Official 25 Point Survival Guide
9. DVD of Euro 2008 Qualifier Scotland 1 Italy 2 (time to let it go Kev...just let it go)
10. Hair Brush
His name is Knox, Kevin Knox
1980 Scottish League Cup Final!?! As my dear mother would have said 'Bad scrant to him'.
ReplyDeleteAs Gladys Knight would have said (if she was twins) 'It should have been us!'
Go United! Both of them/us.
ps Thought Jaws deserved a mention for contribution to Bond movies, if only as recompense for the foul underhand cheating of Clint Eastwood (a Dundee man, perhaps?) in Pale Rider.
pps how are you pronouncing 'sioux'?